Shoe cabinet



Feb. 2, 1937., E. L. WHENHAM SHOE CABINET Filed Feb. 1o, 1931 lNvENroR [VL-ETT 0R/vf W//E/v//AM ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to shoe cabinets and particularly to cabinets of this class for supporting shoes in out-of-the-way, though readily accessible, positions.

The objects of this invention are: first, to provide a cabinet of this class whereby many shoes may be stored in out-of-the-way positions in and upon which the shoes may be easily and quickly placed, from which the shoes may be easily and quickly removed, and in which the shoes are not readily disturbed when placed or supported therein or thereon; second, to provide a cabinetl of this class from which the shoes cannot be readily displaced or shaken by the shaking or moving of the cabinet, or by vibration of the building in which the cabinet is mounted; third, to provide a very simple shoe supporting and storing cabinet, one which is very economical to construct, one which is durable and which will not readily get out of order; fourth, to provide a cabinet of this class which, though relatively small in size, will support many various styles, types and sizes; fth, to provide a novel embodiment of the aforementioned features in a simple cabinet which may be supported and built in a thin wall of a building and ush with the face cf the wall; sixth to provide a cabinet of this class which is constructed as to take up substantially the maximum space between the studs of a building wall; and, seventh, to provide a novel, simple and efficient means of securing and supporting the shoe supporting elements upon and within the cabinet.

With these and other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, I have devised a shoe supporting cabinet having certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of this application in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of my shoe supporting cabinet in its preferred form supported and constructed in the wall of a building, the wall being shown fragmentarily; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view thereof taken through 2-2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view thereof, taken through 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View thereof, taken through 4 4 of Fig. 2, showing in detail the method of supporting and securing the shoe supporting elements within the cabinet and on the walls thereof; and, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of one shoe supporting element.

Like characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the views of the drawing.

The enclosing casing or cabinet I of my shoe supporting means, in the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawing, may be of various sizes and shapes. This casing or enclosure is, however, relatively high or long with respect to its lateral dimensions When the cabinet is constructed to be inserted or supported in the Wall of a building. The width of the casing or enclosure is such that the same may be readily placed between two adjacent studs 2, of conventional spacing, in the wall of a building. The height of the casing may vary Vconsiderably depending upon the number of shoes desired to be stored in the cabinet, the shoes being supported in superimposed horizontal rows. The casing is preferably made of sheet metal and in a unit so that the cabinet may be readily and bodily inserted into an opening in a wall and secured to the wall.

T'he casing, as shown, consists of a back wall la, side walls Ib and upper and lower end walls Ic. The front side of the cabinet is preferably open as shown in the drawing. The front edges of the side and end walls are provided with outwardly extending flanges 3 which may be positioned against the outer side of the plaster surrounding the wall opening, said flanges providing means for securing the cabinet to the wall. Against the outer sides of the flanges is secured a suitable molding 4 for concealing the flanges and the means for securing the flanges to the wall.

The means for supporting the shoes in the cabinet, as shown in the drawing, consists of a plurality of pairs of spaced apart horizontal rods 5 and 6, which, for ordinary purposes, may be approximately three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. The rod 5 is positioned above the rod 6 and slightly backwardly from the vertical plane passing through the rod 6. The shoes are suspended from the upper rod of each pair of rods and rest against the outer side of the lower rod. The shoes are supported by placing or hooking the heel of the shoe over the upper rod and allowing the shoe to be suspended therefrom and to rest with the solel of the shoe against the outer side of the lower rod, substanti-ally as shown in Fig. 2. The upper rods 5 are spaced outwardly from the back wall a suflicient distance so as to allow the heel of the shoe to overhang backwardly between the rod and the back'wall. VIn'the case of ladies shoes with Vhigh heels, the bottoms of the heels rest against the back walls. The lower rods Vl are 4so positioned that the shoes are supported at anangle with the tips of the shoes outwardly but wholly ,Withinrthe cabinet or the enclosing casing of the cabinet. When the shoes are so supported, they cannot be re-adily shaken from the supporting means by vibration or shaking ofthe cabinet, or when other shoes are removed or placed thereon, or when the shoesY are accidentally 'touched yond the front face thereof. -f .v s The rods 5 and 6serve also as horizontalspacers between the side walls Ib,`holding these walls from being compressed readily towardeach other l orrdrawn Aaway from each other, that is, the rods serve as -compressionr and tension vreinforcing `members. Y The ends of the rods abut against the inner sides of the side Walls and 'are ,secured theretoby prongs which extend beyond the ends of theV rodsas bifurcated portions. 'Ihe securing means is affected by weldingstaples 1 tothe innersides of the rods in such manner that the pointed portions of thestaples extend Vbeyond the ends of the rods, as'shown best in Figs. 4V

and 5.- 'Ihese pointed portions 'extendfthrough Vspaced apart holes ld in the sidewalls lb and are bent over against .the outer sides offthe side Walls, as shown best in Figs. 2 andV 4. Thus, the

rods are secured at their ends against longitudi-` nal movement withv respect to the side walls and Patent is: Y l l 'Y In a means of the class described, an enclosure,

are also secured to the side walls against rotation.

The pointed portions ofthe staples when 1 bent Yagainst the outer sidesv of the side walls f also take up little space so that the overall YWidth Y f of the cabinets, except for the front flanges, need be only slightly less than the space between ad-g Yjacent wall studs in order to place Vthe same between conventionally spaced studding. When the casing is made of sheet metal and constructed asfherein specified, the greatest available shoe storing space is provided'for conventional building wall construction without cutting the studs.

. Though I have shown and'described a partic- `ular construction, combination and arrangement `/of parts and portions of my shoekcabinert, I do K-notwish to be limited to this particular con- Y struction, combination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scoperof my invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claim.

Having thus described; myinvention, what I claimV as new and desire to secure byLetters Y rods extending between the opposite sidewalls of the enclosure, the ends of the rods abutting staple secured to each end of said rods, the point-V 'against the inner sides of the side walls, andY af ed portions of the staples extending beyond-the Vends fof the rods and vthroughcorrespondingly spaced apart holes in the opposite sides 4ofV the enclosure, -said pointedrk portions beingf'b'ent against Ytheouter sides of said side YWalls, saidv f' rods forming compression and tension members between the opposed side walls.

EvEnE'rr LORNE WHENHAM. 

